by Kristal Lim
She remembered seeing the sun rise. She remembered a pair of strong arms holding her close and a voice saying, "You are mine now." She remembered standing underneath the glow of a pale green sky with stars twinkling down while the sun peered at her from behind its veil for a moment and dismissed her in that same instance as insignificant. She remembered a woman's dark honey voice whispering, "Remember. Do not lose yourself even if you surrender." She remembered an old man linking her hands with the Prince's and intoning words that took on light and shape in the very air then bound themselves around their wrists. She remembered a kiss, and she remembered being laid down on a bed where one kiss became many and she was soon gasping with need. She remembered that a distant part of herself was screaming at her all throughout these events to wake up.
Every night, they would dance. The Prince would spin her around and kiss her breathless whenever she told him that she wanted to stop and stay still for a while. Then he would take her to their chambers and he would make her forget everything with his passion for her. He would often tell her that he loved her, and though she did come to feel something for him, the same words never escaped her lips. He did not seem to care though. All he desired was for her to acknowledge that she was his.
Sometimes, she would dream. Strange dreams. Where she did not belong to the Prince. Where she looked up into eyes that were not the cold blue of her husband's. She would wake after these dreams with tears dried to pearls on her pillow and the lost whisper of a name, her heart burning with silver light.
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Chapter 16